Apparently he knocked it on and never regained full control so the next Scarlets player who touched the ball made it an offence. If he had juggled with it then brought in under full control no problem.

He did not have the ball under control in the classic sense of holding the ball in both hands. However, he did have it under control in the sense that he did exactly what he wanted to do with the ball, namely tap it on to a supporting player. It was clear to me that HP made a decision NOT to bring it under control in order to ship it on to a supporting player who had a run-in to the try line.

You may have to think outside the box to understand what I'm trying to say here !!!!!

"A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line."

To me, the bit in bold is the bit I've always defined a knock-on as. If a player regained the ball why would it be a knock-on? Wether Parkes tapped the ball back or caught it is immaterial in my eye, as he knocked the ball backwards.

Very dangerous ground if players are being pinged for knocking the ball backwards. Can of worms...

"A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line."

To me, the bit in bold is the bit I've always defined a knock-on as. If a player regained the ball why would it be a knock-on? Wether Parkes tapped the ball back or caught it is immaterial in my eye, as he knocked the ball backwards.

Very dangerous ground if players are being pinged for knocking the ball backwards. Can of worms...

Last night's game has gone now as has the 5/7 pts we could/should have had.

If the ref believes that he made the correct decision then we live with it. However going forward I think that this needs clarification from higher authority. Without attaching blame, was the ref right or wrong in his interpretation ? Players, coaches referees and supporters deserve an answer.

Personally I thought that it was a brilliant piece of quick thinking by Hadleigh to keep the move going.

"A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line."

To me, the bit in bold is the bit I've always defined a knock-on as. If a player regained the ball why would it be a knock-on? Wether Parkes tapped the ball back or caught it is immaterial in my eye, as he knocked the ball backwards.

Very dangerous ground if players are being pinged for knocking the ball backwards. Can of worms...

This is exactly the way I have always understood the law (since it was changed ages ago to allow 'juggling' - in the harsher times of my youth, such juggles were 'knock ons' under the law, regardless of whether the player went on to regain control).

Now, either the law has been changed since last season (entirely possible) or the ref introduced a completely new and personal interpretation of the old laws.

"A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line."

To me, the bit in bold is the bit I've always defined a knock-on as. If a player regained the ball why would it be a knock-on? Wether Parkes tapped the ball back or caught it is immaterial in my eye, as he knocked the ball backwards.

Very dangerous ground if players are being pinged for knocking the ball backwards. Can of worms...

"A knock-on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.‘Forward’ means towards the opposing team’s dead ball line."

To me, the bit in bold is the bit I've always defined a knock-on as. If a player regained the ball why would it be a knock-on? Wether Parkes tapped the ball back or caught it is immaterial in my eye, as he knocked the ball backwards.

Very dangerous ground if players are being pinged for knocking the ball backwards. Can of worms...

Hadleigh never caught it. And he never possession.

No, but we often see players flicking the ball on when under pressure, without being blown up. So 'catching' as such is not the issue here. The issue is whether you can juggle forwards, then flick backwards, without being pinged.

It does look as if either the laws have changed, or the interpretation has - from that ref anyway. No-one on SF has seen this sort of thing called a 'knock on' before, as far as I can see.

I just hope that this ruling will be consistent throughout. As one of the commentators said last night,if that was sonny bill playing for the AB's, that would have been an awesome piece of skill and an excellent try.

I just hope that this ruling will be consistent throughout. As one of the commentators said last night,if that was sonny bill playing for the AB's, that would have been an awesome piece of skill and an excellent try.

Last night's ref was consistent, as he gave two more knock-on decisions in similar circumstances. We still don't know if the rest of the 'refereeing community' will interpret the law in the same way.

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